ABOUT US

Mission

The ERC is a civil rights organization that identifies and seeks to eliminate unlawful and unfair discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations in its home community of Greater Washington, D.C. and nationwide.

Strategic Priorities

The ERC’s core strategy for identifying unlawful and unfair discrimination is civil rights testing. When the ERC identifies discrimination, it seeks to eliminate it through the use of testing data to educate the public and business community, support policy advocacy, conduct compliance testing and training, and, if necessary, take enforcement action.

History

The ERC began as the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington in 1983. Joined by the Fair Employment Council of Greater Washington in 1999, the ERC expanded the scope of its programs to include discrimination in both the workplace as well as in public accommodations. In 2005, the ERC expanded again, joined by the Disability Rights Council and its membership, to grow its programs protecting the civil rights of persons with disabilities. Today, the ERC has thousands of members located in every state and the District of Columbia.

Board of Directors

Prof. Robert Dinerstein, President
Professor of law at American University’s Washington College of Law

Prof. Peter Edelman, First Vice-President
Professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center

Sue A. Marshall, Second Vice-President
Executive Director of the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness

Reverend Cameron W. Byrd, D.Min., Board Member
Former consultant in pastoral care, former Adjunct Faculty Member in the field of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Howard University, and a founding member of the ERC.

Rebecca Crootof, Board Member
Executive Director of Yale Law School Information Society Project. Former ERC employee where she was one of the primary architects of the ERC’s highly successful housing accessibility initiative. Holds a PH.D in law from Yale Law School.

Sunil Mansukhani, Board Member
Principal at the Raben Group, a Washington, DC public affairs firm. Former Executive Director of the DC Access to Justice Commission and a former presidential political appointee at the US Department of Education.

Levi “Christian” Pearson, Board Member
Manager of Trust & Safety at Google. JD/MBA with over 12 years of experience helping commercial, public sector, and non-profit organizations maximize their potential and minimize risk. Previously worked with Steptoe & Johnson and Accenture where he assisted the ERC to maximize its capabilities and outcomes.

Katy Neas, Board Member
Executive Vice President of Public Affairs at Easter Seals, where she focuses on issues impacting children with disabilities. Leader at the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities and former Senator Tom Harkin staffer, where she was instrumental in the drafting of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Charles Crawford, Board Member
Former Executive Director of American Council of the Blind.

George Ruttinger, Esq., Board Member
Partner and Co-Chair of the International Dispute Resolution Group at Crowell & Moring LLP

Jackie Simon, Board Member
Realtor and member of the Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities

Olivier Kamanda, Board Member
Fellow for the General Services Administration (GSA) continuing a project he began as a White House Innovation Fellow. Former Halcyon Incubator Fellow, Truman National Security Project Fellow, and founder of Ideal Impact.

Nancy Santiago Negron, Board Member
Consultant, specializing in strategic communications & external affairs. Her projects include collaborating with Michelle Obama to continue her White House initiatives. Serves on the advisory boards of the Walmart Foundation Workforce and Parallel18; former political appointee to the Obama Administration.